


Forever Young

by abderian



Series: Forever Young Trilogy [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-23 04:24:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/618036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abderian/pseuds/abderian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fate can be cruel, ripping away lives well before their time. It wasn’t kind to One Direction. Only one was left to walk alone, to deal with the sorrow beyond his years, to mourn the loss of his best friends, to desperately miss his boyfriend. But they were gone, they were always going to be Forever Young.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forever Young

xXx

Life isn’t fair. Ten years ago, if you had asked Niall where he saw One Direction, he would have smiled, laughingly throwing his arms around his friends, talking about how they would still be together, hopefully still taking the music world by storm. Five years ago, he would have said that the group was only made stronger by the adversity it had faced, that the four band members were going to keep going. But now, he walked alone, the sole member of One Direction, each of the others having been ripped away from him, by a cruel fate that decided they would not live to see another day.

He stopped in front of the first headstone, a soft wind rustling through the leaves of the grand oak that shaded it from the non-existent sunlight on the dreary day.

“Harry Edward Styles.” Niall sadly murmured, reading over the words, his mind transported back to when he was twenty- two.

xXx

Niall opened his eyes, glancing at each of the members of One Direction, as they impatiently waited for the youngest to turn up. Not that they had any faith.

Harry was different now; the seduction of a celebrity lifestyle had enticed him. It had begun with women, so many women, but it hadn’t taken long for it to escalate.

At first no one noticed the change, the number of times Harry stumbled into rehearsal drunk. He was twenty-one, he knew the consequences and if he wasn’t to be stupid and drink, who were they to stop him.

Liam had tried to talk to him, tried to softly tell him that the behaviour wasn’t appropriate, that it negatively impacted on not only him but One Direction. But the Harry the used to know had already started to disappear, falling deeper into a lifestyle that they couldn’t save him from.

They hadn’t discovered the drug use until Niall and Louis had hit the town, ending up in the same club as Harry. Recognising his hair they had pushed through the crowd, eager to speak to their band mate. They all missed him, they longed for the days when all they had to worry about was the next Caroline Flack. They approached him, but Louis stuck out his arm, preventing Niall from getting closer, trying to stop the younger blond from seeing the heart crushing image, but it was too late.

Harry sat, surrounded by the wrong people, snorting lines of cocaine off the table. Niall felt his stomach turn as he watched Harry’s friends inhale fumes from bongs, and insert unknown substances into their body from syringes.

It was the typical tragic tale of celebrity, and Harry had fallen face first into a destructive cycle.

They tried to talk to him, tried to get him to go to rehab, but he violently denied he had a problem. He swung and connected to many times, each punch hurting deeper than the bruise on the surface. He was no longer the Harry that had started on the journey with them.

They all watched as he wasted away, the drugs taking the toll on his body. Pictures hit the tabloids, and his personal hell became the gossip of the world. But the biggest headline came the day that Niall was sent to find him, as he was once again late for rehearsals. The apartment had been silent, the air so still, and the lights all out. But the atmosphere could not have prepared Niall for the image he found. Harry dead. Overdosed. He joined the ranks of so many fallen celebrities, whose choices had ended their lives.

xXx

Niall layed the single flower on the grave, saying the simple prayer for Harry’s soul. SO many had believed that it would be the end of the band, how could they keep going without one of the members. But the final four had decided, that Harry as he had been once, would not want them to give up their dream because of his mistakes.

Niall stood, wandering among the headstones, silently stepping through the well-trodden path. They had launched a successful comeback, the album in memorial of Harry had become their biggest yet and maybe they would have overcome the tragedy. But fate was cruel, he realised, stopping before two more headstones, lying next to each other, as death had reached out and stolen them from the world of life on the very same day.

xXx

Niall and Liam had sat in the police station, their faces equal masks of utter loss. They were all that remained of One Direction. The policeman sat before them, outlining the grisly details of the car accident, but it was no accident.

Louis and Zayn had been driving, Louis having picked Zayn up to join Niall and Liam so that they could visit Harry’s grave together, a tradition that they had started whenever they achieved any milestone in their music career.

But the car had malfunctioned, and forensics had revealed a cut break line. They had spun out of control, rolling, before impacting with a sickening crunch against the side of a building. The were both killed on impact.

Niall and Liam simply held each other as they left, no amount of anything could fill the hole in their heart. The tiny tear that had only started to heal from when they had lost Harry was ripped open, the tears that fell from their eyes trying to release the pain, but no amount of crying would ever be enough.

They would sit alone in their apartment, the desire to stay near each other ever increasing, as only they both understood the true pain. They watched as fans continued to cry and lament the loss of true heroes to the music industry, One Direction was well and truly dead. Two members were not enough to continue on.

They endured countless press conference, keeping a mask in place so that no one would ever know their pain. But the moment the camera would turn off, they would embrace and cry into each other’s shoulder, each time the questions were asked was like throwing salt into an open would.

The pain had never left, but it had dulled over time, and a new emotion had presented itself, one that neither Niall or Liam would have expected to have come from such tragedy.

xXx

He grabbed two more flowers from the bouquet, laying them each down, tears dripping down his face, as thunder rumbled, the sky threatening to cry with him. He remembered their smiling faces as his fingers trailed over the engravings on the stone.

He wondered why they had been taken, wondered why Harry had been taken, why had it been determined that One Direction would never have the opportunity to break up, as their choice was ripped from them.

His fingers clenched the bouquet of flowers as he stood, looking up to the sky. A glance at his watch told him he had to be at the airport in just over an hour. He considered leaving then, unable to face the final grave, the freshest wound, the deepest cut.

Rain started to fall, slowly at first, nothing but a mist that clung to his body, but with each step closer to the grave, it fell heavier, harder, weeping in time with Niall’s heart.

The stone stood strong, the ground around it green, the message still fresh.

“Here lies Liam James Payne, Son, Singer, Boyfriend. The final enemy that shall be defeated is death.”

Niall read the memory, sobs readily coming from his body, shaking his head at the quote stolen from the graves of Lily and James Potter. But Liam had insisted, he hadn’t wanted an elaborate message, he wanted his memory to be preserved the way he lived, simply.

Niall bent his head, torrents of rain gently caressing him face. “I love you Liam, every single day I wish you were still here.”

xXx

It had taken almost a year after they lost Zayn and Harry for Liam and Niall to realise that they had fallen in love. It had been years since the publicised bromances, and they thought they had grown to just being best friends. But after the heartbreak had cleared they knew that they were more special to each other than anyone else.

They retracted from the public eye after the public mourning period ended, so it was a few years before they were snapped together on a romantic date. They suffered only well wishes, everyone happy to see that they had found love in each other’s arms.

The pair had been considering marriage when it happened. Liam fell ill and he was rushed to hospital. His kidney was failing him, and the prognosis was grim. Niall held Liam’s hand, staring unseeing as the doctor silently told the truth, that Liam was dying. The fact that he only had one kidney, as well as his childhood condition, had just been the final deciding factor, the kidney failure was just too far developed, and toxins had built up in his body, slowly poisoning it. When Niall had asked, begged for the possibility of a donor the doctor had just shook his head, muttering his apologies.

Their last month’s together were spent in the hospital, Niall trying to remain strong as Liam slowly faded away. But as strong as Niall was, Liam was stronger, accepting his fate, trying to make the last months of his life magical. Niall would never say it, but he could see Liam’s pain and knew his boyfriend was waiting to meet death with open arms, where he would take him to join the rest of his band mates.

The sun had just set, and when Liam met Niall’s eyes they both knew that with the coming night, Liam would disappear, setting with the sun. The intertwined their fingers, tears slowly dripping down Niall’s face as he ran his hair though Liam’s curls.

“I love you, don’t you ever forget that.”

Liam smiled, remembering Niall’s kiss, so he could bring the memory with him into the forever. “I love you too Nialler, but I need you to promise me that you will be strong, and I want you to return to music, to continue the legacy of One Direction. I love you Niall, more than anything.” Liam trailed off his eyes closing and he was gone, leaving Niall alone, the last member of One Direction.

xXx

“I miss you so much, Liam it’s so hard living each day without you. But I’m trying. And I got back into music; it’s why I’m here today. I’m scared Li, I don’t think I can do it alone. I always had all of you by my side, I need you Li, I need all of you.”

Niall broke down, hugging his chest. He was only twenty-seven, he was still young, yet his heart felt a hundred, weighed down with sorrow. Suddenly he felt warmth and looked up to see Liam. He did not talk, just smile. His hand reached out to touch Niall’s face and he moved forward slowly capturing the blond in a kiss. Niall’s lips moved automatically, blending into the touch, his eyes closed in anticipation. But when he opened his eyes he was alone again.

xXx

“Every year we induct a musical icon into the Hall of Fame. Tonight we pay our respects to a young band whose future was so cruelly destroyed. One Direction started when five young boys were put together on the X-Factor to become a boy band. While they finished third, they undisputedly became the most successful act.”

Niall only half listened to the speech that was being given, his stomach fluttering with nerves, he was on stage at the Grammy’s about to give his first performance by himself, and he still didn’t know if he could do it. As the warmth of the lights hit him he knew he was centre stage. He cleared his throat and looked up, staring unseeing into the audience.

“I stand before you the final member of One Direction. Harry, Zayn, Louis and Liam have all passed on, but Liam’s final wish was for me to pick up music again and to carry on what One Direction started.”

His Irish accent captivated the crowd, and the all watched, eager to hear the voice of one person who had never been the main singer, and who had faded into obscurity over the past couple years.

“I didn’t feel like I could do it, I didn’t think I was strong enough to survive on my own, and I confess at times I considered ending it just so I could be with my friends, my boyfriend once again.” Niall felt a soft touch on his shoulder and he looked, seeing Liam there giving him the strength to go on, he looked to his other side where Zayn and Louis stood, ready to support him, finally he saw Harry, an apologetic smile on his face, yet his eyes shined with pride. The world might not know it but One Direction was together for one last time.

“But I forced myself to continue, I knew that if I took the easy way, when I saw them again they wouldn’t forgive me. So here I am and I want to sing a song to remember where it started, our first single, what would have been our winners single.”

He plucked the strings of his guitar, his voice singing out loud and clear, the raw emotion and beauty of it bringing tears to the eyes of everyone in the room.

“Let’s dance in style,

Let’s dance for a while,

Heaven can wait we’re only watching the skies,

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst,

Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever,

We don’t have the power but we never say never,

Sitting in a sandpit,

Life is a short trip,

The music’s for the sad man.

Forever young,

I wanna be,

Forever young,

Do you really want to live forever,

Forever,

Forever young.”


End file.
